As many as 23 Army personnel went missing on Wednesday after a cloudburst over Lhonak Lake triggered flash flood in Teesta River in North Sikkim’s Lachen Valley.
A massive search operation has been launched to locate the missing Army personnel, Defence PRO, Guwahati said. Some vehicles are also reported to have swept away in the flood waters.
“Due to a sudden cloud burst over Lhonak Lake in North Sikkim, a flash flood occurred in Teesta River in Lachen Valley. Some army establishments along the valley have been affected and efforts are on to confirm details. 23 personnel have been reported missing and some vehicles are reported submerged under the slush. Search operations are underway,” the PRO said.
According to Army, water from the Chungthang dam was released after the cloudburst and this led to a sudden increase in the Teesta River water level.
The 414 km long Teesta River flows through rises in the Pauthunri Mountain and flows through Sikkim and West Bengal before entering Bangladesh.
Houses in the Lachen Valley were submerged and vehicles wept away in the flash flood. Videos shared on social media showed a few roads in the area being washed away in the flood.
So far, there has not been any causality but several people besides the Army personnel have reportedly gone missing.
However, the the India Meteorological Department (IMD) Gangtok office has said that the flash floods were not caused by cloudburst as area witnessed only 39 mm of rain. A cloudburst is when a small area receives more than 100 mm rain in an hour.
The IMD has issued an alert for low lying areas such as Gazoldoba, Domohani, Mekhaliganj and Ghish in view of the swollen Teesta River.
The IMD has predicted light to moderate rain in Sikkim over the next 3-4 days.